Brighton resident Darry Melton, 80, holds a camera and gets ready to take a photo. Nearly 1,000 of his photographs will be up for auction from Nov. 15-17 at the First United Methodist Church in Brighton to benefit Livingston County Choirs.(Photo: Submitted)

A Brighton man who has made photography a hobby for five decades is auctioning approximately 1,000 photo collages in an effort to raise money for Livingston County Choirs.

Darry Melton will have his photograph collages for sale from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 15 and 16, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Nov. 17 at the First United Methodist Church in Brighton.

"I turned 80 this year and one of the reasons I want to donate is I'm getting older and I have all these pictures and I want to basically give them away," Melton said. "I'd like to get them out into the public, and to give it as a donation."

Photos in the auction will have a minimum price but can be purchased for more than that, Melton said. Members of Livingston County Choirs will be on hand to collect the money.

After 10% of Melton's business expenses are covered, the funds from the auction will be put toward several aspects of the Livingston County Choirs, an organization comprised of three distinct choirs: the SATB Chorale, the Women’s Chorus, and the Youth Choir, featuring children in grades third through eighth and led by experienced and professional directors, according to its website.

The money raised will be put toward scholarships; hiring clinicians; to provide a summer youth performing arts camp; to host a "United in Song" event bringing school choirs together, and more.

The Livingston County Choirs also provide educational opportunities in vocal music including the Dr. Marilyn S. Jones Vocal Scholarship Competition, which provides scholarships for students to further their music education studies.

The photos in the auction — many featuring landscapes — are the remainder of Melton's photo collection, and many of the photos are hand-cut photo collages of scenes which were photographed during Melton's 50-year career, said Donald Thompson, a choir member and videographer who interviewed Melton for a video project.

"What’s really interesting about the photos is they’re shot at the national parks, and here in Michigan," Thompson said.

A framed photo collage created by Brighton photographer Darry Melton. Melton, 80, has been shooting photos for 50 years.(Photo: Submitted)

Some of the photos are framed while some are not, Thompson said.

The panoramic collages can contain up to 100 pictures or more, Melton said.

He uses an adhesive on both sides of a photo to piece the collages together, he said.

"Instead of having one shot, I have lots of shots. When I shoot, there's a lot of overlap, so I have to cut through the overlap," Melton said. "It's much easier to do the individual shots. I kind of like the individual shots because it slows people down to look at the whole scene."

One-of-a-kind photo collages

Throughout his 50-year career, he has collages that are one-of-a-kind, he said.

Originally from Asherville, Kansas, Melton said there are many wide open spaces there to photograph.

"When I started doing photography I could never get what I saw in those wide, open spaces into one picture. That's why I started doing collages," he said.

A social worker in Detroit for many years, photography was a hobby.

A collage created by Darry Melton showing birds flying in an autumn scene.(Photo: Submitted)

Although the majority of Melton's photo collection is set for auction, he said it is not the end of his photography career.

"I'm still doing that every day," he said.

Now, he takes photos of farm animals, and of ducks on a lake, for portfolios that he has created and given away, he said.

"My life revolves around photographing, and probably will be until the day I die," Melton said.

Contact Livingston Daily reporter Sean Bradley at 517-552-2860 or at spbradley@livingstondaily.com. Follow him on Twitter @SbradleyLD.